One Million Stars
by NebulaHeroine
Summary: Roci isn't even quite sure of what he wants to do with his life, but still decides to adopt a six-year-old child he met at the hospital. Roci couldn't quite prepare himself for all the trouble Law brings with him, but at the same time, neither could he prepare himself for all the wonders Law brings with him. /Modern AU, father son CoraLaw, eventual KidLaw/
1. Chapter 1

**Helloo! I had to reload this because of layout reasons! (noticed that this website had deleted a few things in the text and had to edit it to make this easier to read!)**

 **I have had this idea ever since Cora was introduced in the manga and finally got around to write it. ( u v u )**

 **So this will be a modern AU setting with father+son CoraLaw and then eventual KidLaw. Also, if you want to see Law dating people in the future, just leave a review! This is not a very plotted fic, so if you wish to see something specific, I _might_ be able to add it :)**

 **I know this isn't the most awesome fic of all time, but I hope someone will read it and enjoy it!**

 **Updates will be very slow so I ask for patience (in case someone really reads this) ( o v o )**

 **~Enjoy~**

* * *

The clock ticked behind him. The entire room was silent, except the silent ticking. The teacher had moved the clock in the back of the class, hoping that the students would focus in class better. But that hadn't worked very well, because all Roci thought of was going home.

At home he was safe from a lot of things. Roci had absolutely nothing against people in general, and his first years at school had been a delight. He had loved the teachers and had gotten a lot of friends. He had played with his friends during the breaks and sometimes Doflamingo had come along with his friends from the upper grade and Roci had felt so cool. But then things had started to change.

Or, Doflamingo had started to change.

Roci knew that Doflamingo still cared about him; at home they got along well. But immediately when they got to school, Doflamingo would start to make fun of him; calling him a sissy, accusing him for being a teacher's pet, laughing at him and pushing him around. Somehow, Doflamingo found it necessary to bully Roci whenever his friends were around.

And the bullying had started to spread. When the kids in Roci's grade had seen how Doflamingo and the big kids were pushing him around, they had learnt that making fun of Roci was a fun, cool thing to do.

The bullying was done in a smart way; for the teachers it looked as if they were friends. It looked as if Doflamingo was clinging to him in a friendly manner, joking together with him, laughing together with him. But the truth was that Doflamingo clung to him in a mocking manner, joked _about_ him, laughed _at_ him. And the others were laughing at how Roci was made fun of. When the teachers weren't looking, they would break his things and then run away, making it look as if Roci had been clumsy and broken his new toy himself.

Sitting in the classroom, hearing how the girls whispered and how the boys chuckled, Roci held back a tear. Every second that ticked on the clock meant one second less. Every second meant one second less of the whispers and stares and laughter.

They thought he was weird and quiet. _A sissy._ His long bangs covered most of his face and he had always been sensitive. He had always started to cry when he had seen a dead bird or a lonely cat. And the other kids thought it was weird and cowardly. They didn't like gentle kids.

All Roci wished for was to be at least a little cooler, a little tougher and mostly a little braver.

* * *

"Corazon! You're so brave!" the girl gasped and watched him balance on the tiny, red bucket with only one leg. The other children looked at him with huge eyes as he desperately tried to stand upright. After a while he fell anyway and the small audience of children burst out in laughter.

Roci sat up and smiled. This part was inevitably the best part.

The children begged him to try again, cheered on him and whined, until he tried again, only to fall again, making them burst into laughter again. Then he continued to do other silly tricks, fell around and basically just made a fool of himself. The children continued to laugh and some of the parents that were present smiled and squeezed the hands of their children. They were happy.

When the show was done, they applauded and he bowed to the children and let them try on his hat and let them play with the tiny water guns. Some of the children had to leave immediately after the show because they were too exhausted, while some stayed for a long time and asked him to read a story, which he eventually gave in to and read.

The children loved him.

He was a clown. A clown who came in to their hospital rooms, chatted with them, showed silly tricks and made stupid faces. He let the children play doctors and let them check _his_ pulse instead of the other way around. He let them be policemen and policewomen who gave him tickets for falling down. He also let them give tickets to the nurses if they did anything wrong in their opinion. He sat with them and colored in coloring books and got shouted at if he did something wrong and paid them chocolate coins as an apology. He sometimes dressed up as a stupid prince and pretended to be cool while he fell over and did stupid things, making the children laugh, making them point and say "Don't even try! We know it's you, Corazon!"

During Christmas, he'd help the children decorate trees and during Easter he'd help them find chocolate eggs had hidden around in the hospital. He would play pirate, princess, mermaid, king, swordsman, policeman, dancer, tiger or whatever the children asked him to. If the children were up and felt like walking around, he'd take them on an adventure, pretending that the nurses were wild animals and that the doctors were boring hunters. He would let the children climb on him, do his hair, draw on his face and try on his clothes.

It was a dream job.

Of course, the pay wasn't good and he couldn't keep on living like this for long. It was only a temporary job he had taken on to save enough money to start studying literature. But, so far it had proved to be a wonderful job.

The hardest part of the job was to see the children. The children who were batting sicknesses that they were not supposed to have. The children who were supposed to be outside exploring and instead they sat inside waiting. The youngest children who weren't going to make it and didn't quite understand what dying meant. The older children who weren't going to make it and knew what dying meant. The children who had once run but now lost their legs. The children who had once drawn but now lost their arm.

The children who fought a battle most people dreaded and feared.

The children who fought that battle every single day.

The children who never gave up despite being dragged down daily.

* * *

One day things changed.

Roci went to work like he always did. He changed his clothes and put on his make-up like it was any other day. It was a quite sunny day; people were walking outside, enjoying the sun that had returned after the long, disgustingly cold winter. Admittedly he longed to take a stroll himself, or maybe take a ride with his bike to a nice place and eat a small picnic there.

Seagulls screeched as they spread their wings and flew over the ocean. One girl had even dared to put on a sundress, hoping that the cold and nasty wind by the ocean would calm down. Roci himself had decided to wear his jean jacket and leave the thicker trench coat at home.

Just before Roci entered the department for sick children, a colleague came up to him, pulled on his shirt to catch his attention. It was a doctor. She had a stern expression and fixed her white glasses with a used hand, as if her glasses fell down all the time. Roci blinked and wondered what had happened.

"We got a new patient during the past two days you were gone", she explained, her voice as sweet as hot water with slices of lemon and honey. Roci had always liked her. She was married and had a daughter. She was an experienced doctor who always made sure to help every patient.

"Huh?" Roci had taken a two-day-holiday to visit a couple of old friends from high school, because two of them had gotten engaged.

"He has leukemia. He was transferred to another hospital two weeks ago but the doctors there were not competent enough to help him. His family was supposed to arrive with a plane yesterday morning, they had troubles with outdated passports and the security guards at the airport couldn't overlook it. They finally got their passports fixed two days ago and took the first plane here", taking a deep breath, the doctor looked past Roci. Roci mentally prepared himself. "The plane crashed and his parents and younger sister all died. He's currently alone in a hospital room to recover from the shock. We know how much the other children mean to you, but we ask you to keep this one a little more company."

"Yes, of course", Roci replied, feeling strange. He didn't know how to handle the situation. This was beyond him. He was no psychologist, he had no idea if it would help the kid to have a stranger sit and talk with him. But Roci felt that he had to do something.

"Right now it is unsure whether he will live or not", the doctor continued, her voice as soft as ever. "The leukemia has developed quite much and he is in a weak state. We're doing our best, but he's only five years old and lost a lot of will to live when he heard about his parents and sister. He had really been waiting to see them. Unfortunately, he'll only get to see them at their funeral."

Roci swallowed and nodded shakily. The doctor told him to follow her as she led him to the room where the boy was. With a blank and dizzy mind, Roci didn't expect anything special so when he saw the scrawny boy with golden eyes look at him, he felt the world spin around him. The eyes glistened dimly, as the boy blinked tiredly. The room smelled sadness.

"Law, this is Corazon, a clown, he'll be stopping by for a moment okay?" the doctor smiled and waited for the young boy to say anything.

The boy remained silent and only blinked at the doctor and at Roci. Then he lowered his gaze and proceeded to stare at the book in his lap. The doctor patted Roci on his shoulder, gave him an empathic smile and left. Roci swallowed again, before he slowly walked up to the boy. A little chat wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Is that your favorite book?" Roci asked and sat down next to the hospital bed. One could see how the boy had started to lose hair due to the treatment. His skin looked pale and he looked as if he hadn't slept nor eaten for weeks. Roci knew that the boy had both slept and eaten normally every day though. The medication was just draining his energy away from him.

"No, I hate this book", the reply came sincerely. Roci blinked.

"Why?"

"It's stupid. Animals don't talk", his voice was tired and bitter. He sounded more like an eighty year old, grumpy man who was spending his last years at the retirement home.

"Well they talk in their own languages", Roci said, trying to bring some kind of positivity. He smiled and gently took the book from his lap to get a better look. He opened the book and looked at the shiny pictures of the animals. It was obviously a book the hospital had given the child.

When the kid didn't reply and instead looked away, Roci understood that joking around or reading some silly books wouldn't help. Neither would some comforting words or a pair of listening ears help. This child just needed to be for himself, while not being alone. He needed space but needed someone to remind him that he wasn't completely lonely. Roci needed to help him in a different way.

"What's your name?" he asked, putting the book away. He knew it would be a huge challenge for him to help this child. He would possibly make things worse. But at the same time, he felt like he maybe could open a window for the child and make the smell of sadness fly out. Maybe he could, with enough effort and patience, help the child overcome his huge, overwhelming sorrow.

"Law," the boy replied. His golden eyes looked at the wall tiredly. Roci wondered what the boy had been like before his illness. Before his family's death. Had he always been a quiet child? Or had he just developed this feature because of the endless pain?

"Well then Law, I promise I'll bring you a less stupid book tomorrow."

And even if Roci didn't know it back then, his entire life would slowly start to undergo an enormous change.

* * *

The change came gradually.

It started with Roci dropping by for a couple of minutes every day, bringing Law a new book and asking him how he was. Law didn't talk much and a lot of his time the boy spent either vomiting or sleeping. And when he wasn't vomiting nor sleeping he would often stay completely quiet or cry, even if he hated to cry in front of people.

A few days became weeks and a few weeks became months. Law became bald and his long eyelashes and dark eyebrows disappeared. He cried of pain and had to go through some surgeries. Roci didn't quite understand what was happening to Law, but silently cursed the doctors for making the small child live in such unbearable pain.

Roci didn't exactly know when it had happened, but Law had charmed him. The completely quiet boy had somehow gotten a special place in his heart and whenever Roci would walk past a store with books he'd think of Law. He'd think of what to say to Law before falling asleep. He'd put reminders on his phone to download episodes of Law's favorite shows. Anywhere, anytime, he caught himself thinking of the quiet, sad boy.

Over time, Law became chattier. Of course, the boy was still in a weak state and constantly mourned his dead family. But, he slowly started to reply to all of Roci's questions and even asked Roci some questions too.

Exactly three months after the horrible incident with Law's family, Law flashed his first smile and Roci knew that he had been charmed. He would never be able to forget about Law after that smile – that shy, sincere smile. The golden eyes had glistened. The beautiful shade of yellow, which looked like a mixture of scapolite, citrine and thousands of stars from all over the universe had looked like a torch that had danced.

Law was still incredibly shy when it came to other children. He never dared to speak with them and most of the time he spent alone, isolating himself. But for Roci it was enough that Law felt content to speak with him. He felt honored that Law thought Roci was trustworthy enough to talk to. He felt like he had accomplished something huge.

The couple of minutes Roci used to spend with Law became longer and longer every day and soon the nurses had to drag him out of Law's room and remind him that the other children were waiting for him. Roci had never intended to favor Law more than the other children, but it had still somehow happened. Somehow, in a peculiar way, Law had become the center of Roci's life and vice versa.

But Roci knew that when Law would get better he'd be placed with a new family, or even worse, an orphanage. And deep inside Roci kind of dreamed that he would become Law's new family.

* * *

The autumn had begun with a merciless wind and a cold shower of rain. Leaves danced around in the wind, the water in the lakes became clearer and colder and the sky was always either completely gray or completely blue.

Roci had always liked the autumn. It was in the autumn when a new school year begun. A fresh start after a long and sweaty summer. But this autumn was different, because Roci had still not decided on where to apply next. So he got no new fresh start, neither a new school year. He didn't know what he wanted of his future. He had turned 19 in July and still had no clue of what he wanted to work with. He only knew he wanted a nice apartment, a cozy family and lovely friends.

So this autumn, Roci got on his bike like always, biked his way to the hospital and spent some time with the sick children. Like always he spent almost two hours with Law, and even stayed and chatted with the kid after his shift had ended.

He let out a deep sigh when he sat down on the chair by Law's hospital bed after a long day.

"Did you work a lot today, Mr. Cora?" Law asked. He had just woken up from a nap and the last time he had gotten chemotherapy had been one and a half week ago, so he was slowly getting livelier. The hardest thing for Roci was to see Law right after getting chemotherapy. The small boy would be trembling and vomiting, sweating and crying.

"Yeah", Roci replied. By now he had gotten used to the children calling him Corazon, thinking that was his real name. It was merely a name he had come up with and used when he worked as a clown, because it had a nicer ring to it than Rocinante had. "What about you? Are you up for some Trouble?"

Law nodded and sat properly up in his bed. Roci knew that the child didn't trust a lot of people. In fact, Law only trusted Roci and one nurse. Law really hated the doctors that treated him, and it did make sense. Law probably felt as if the doctors poisoned him instead of treating him, because every time they would treat him, the side-effects would be so taxing on his body that he'd suffer greatly. Even if Law was a smart child, he didn't understand what was happening to him, or why the doctors were forced to put him through such pain. He only knew he was sick and the doctors were torturing him.

Law always wanted to play as the blue one, and Roci switched between green, red and yellow. They arranged the pieces on the board game and started playing. Law pressed the Pop-O-Matic bubble on the board and the dice jumped inside.

"Did you watch the shows I recorded for you?" Roci asked and moved his yellow piece forwards.

"Yea, they were nice. But then I fell asleep", Law replied, obviously a bit ashamed of the fact that he had fallen asleep. Roci smiled at the shy boy and resisted the urge to cuddle him.

"I see", Roci said and moved his piece forwards again. "Sleeping is good. It'll make you grow strong and big."

"But it's a bit boring", Law remarked. He was somehow mature for his age. Roci was often forced to remind himself that the child only was five. Speaking of age, Roci had never asked Law when his birthday was.

"It is indeed", Roci agreed, looking at the concentrated look on Law's face. The child hated to lose and didn't realize that Trouble was a game you won with pure luck. So Law always tried to use strategies and plans to win, not understanding that all of his tactics were in vain. "I never asked you, but when is your birthday?"

"It's the 26th of October", Law replied. His small, tanned hands moved a blue piece forwards, golden eyes desperately focusing and the lithe body tense of concentration. It took Roci a lot of willpower not to squeal because of the cute look on Law's face.

"That's pretty soon right? Because it's the 13th today", Roci smiled, and patted Law's bald head. Admittedly, Roci missed the dark locks, even if they had been very thin when they had met. Oh well, they would always grow back when Law got better. Because the kid would get better, Roci had overheard that the other day.

"Yea", Law blushed. Apparently he was shy about birthdays too.

"Is there anything special you want?" Roci asked, seeing a small smile spreading across Law's face. The kid was still quite grumpy, despite being chattier, so smiles were rare. Therefore, it always made Roci's day when Law smiled. Suddenly he wasn't as exhausted anymore.

Law nodded shyly. "Uh-huh."

"And may I ask what that is?"

Law looked up at Roci with golden eyes that shone like halos and looked as if he was about to tell Roci a secret.

"I saw it on TV", Law whispered. "I need it."

"What is it? You're making me horribly curious."

"They said it could walk and if you taught it, it could say your name!" Law whispered again. "Do you know it? It's that walking polar bear! Bepo! It's fluffy and big and white and it moves! I saw it on TV and it looks so big."

"Oh, yea, I've seen some Bepos in the stores", Roci remembered seeing a big pile of packages filled with those things at a toy store. They were quite pricey, but Roci wouldn't mind living with instant noodles for a month or two if it meant that he could get Law one of those Bepos. "Well, who knows, maybe you'll get one if you eat well and sleep enough."

"R… Really?" Law's eyes shone even more as he looked up at Roci. Yea, Roci was most definitely getting Law one of those things. "Then I'll eat real well!" It was even rarer to see Law so excited. Roci's heart was slowly melting into a puddle of goo.

"Speaking of food what did you eat today?" the game proceeded and Law had to focus on the small pieces again. He didn't want to lose after all.

"I got soup", Law replied, a content expression painting his tanned face. Roci swore that he never would be able to forget about Law, not even if he'd get run over by a car and lose all of his other memories in the process. Never.

"What did you do with the bread you got with it?" Roci asked jokingly. Over the past months, the kid had grown to really hate bread. It was because the only thing Law was capable of consuming during his worst periods was sandwiches of different kinds. Afterwards, he would relate the horrible feeling of sickness to bread, and feel sick when trying to eat any kind of bread.

Law looked around himself to see if any nurses were around and then quietly whispered: "I hid it in a napkin."

Roci held back laughter. He could only imagine the confused nurse who found untouched bread in a napkin. Then again, the nurses should have understood not to bring Law any bread by then. The kid would not eat it unless he just had gotten chemotherapy.

"I promise you I will make sure you won't get bread on your birthday."

* * *

Law had gotten chemotherapy a few days before his birthday and was feeling quite unwell when Roci dropped by. Therefore Roci put the cake aside and told Law it was okay if he ate it a few days later. He told Law that one was able to celebrate their birthdays whenever it suited them.

"Everything is spinning", Law complained. The tiny, scrawny boy had spent the last three days vomiting and right now he was mostly exhausted and felt sick. He had nasty dark rings beneath his young eyes that now looked empty and wet.

"It's okay", Roci said, sat down next to Law and stroked his bald head carefully.

The doctors had said that Law currently was beating the living hell out of his leukemia. The kid was fighting as hard as he could. And the fight proved to be successful; the doctors said that he would only be in need of two more chemotherapies. He would be dismissed in less than three months. They were sure that Law would be ready to be taken home before Christmas. If they wouldn't have found him a home by then, he would be forced to stay a while longer, because other children at orphanages could easily infect him with flus and even the smallest colds could be pernicious for Law in his weak state.

"Everything tastes weird… Chili tastes like strawberries and strawberries like cinnamon", Law whimpered.

"It will be better in a few days Law", Roci continued to caress the head. "Guess who has eaten well and slept enough?" He slowly reached for the huge box on the floor.

Law blinked tiredly at the box. "Is that..?"

"Do you want to open it yourself or should I open it for you?" Roci asked. He had spent one long hour trying to properly package the huge present. In the end it still looked quite horrible.

"I'm six years old now I think I can open it myself", Law said weakly and Roci helped him to sit up properly. Law shakily managed to open the present, even if Roci secretly helped Law to open it from the other side of the box. Law blinked at the box when he realized what it was. "Bepo..!" He gasped.

"Yea", Roci replied proudly. He had loaned some money from Doffy, who hadn't been able to say no when Roci had said he was buying a birthday present for a six-year-old cancer patient. "I think you've earned it."

Roci opened the box and took out the huge polar bear toy and carefully placed it in Law's lap. Law only stared at the toy until he shakily reached out his hands and grabbed it.

"It's so… fluffy", he whispered in awe. Inhaling deeply, Law turned to Roci and then back to the polar bear. "And big."

"It sure is", Roci smiled. Somehow, the toy had awakened a bit of life inside of Law. Even if it still was clear that Law was endlessly exhausted right now, he still seemed excited and content. "And you're too. Like you said, you're six years old now. Happy birthday, Law."

"Thank you so much", Law mumbled as he hugged the toy.

There occurred a moment of silence as Law looked at the bear and then looked down at his lap. Before Roci even knew it, the kid had started crying. Roci literally panicked. Hadn't Law wanted a Bepo? Had he bought the wrong gift after all? Was he in pain?

"What's wrong?" Roci asked, ready to call a nurse in case Law was getting random pain cramps.

Law only continued to sob quietly. With a scrawny, weak hand he wiped away the tears rolling down for his cheek. But he couldn't stop the tears, because only more and more tears rolled down and soon they dripped down on the blanket.

"M… Mom and dad… I miss them", Law sobbed, burying his face in the toy. "L-Lami too…"

Roci realized how horrible it must have been for Law, to spend his birthday alone at the hospital with a couple of nurses and a weird hospital clown. Even if Roci had sat hours on end talking with Law, he could impossibly replace the family Law once had had. Roci couldn't even imagine how Law felt. Only one year earlier Law had been a healthy boy, being able to spend his birthday at home, eating cake without feeling like vomiting, running around with his sister and his friends. And now he was so tired that he wasn't able to do anything he enjoyed doing. Now he had barely been celebrated at all.

What could he possibly do? Nothing. He could not tell Law that it would be okay, because the only thing that would feel okay for Law was to see his family again and that was impossible. The funeral had been held a few months ago. Law had attended with a nurse holding his hand. They had held the funeral two weeks after Law's chemotherapy, so that the child had been able to attend. Law had been endlessly depressed afterwards.

Law didn't have any close relatives that could take him into their care, as far as Roci was concerned. The boy was literally all alone. And he probably missed his family so much that his entire body ached. Roci wished he could do something, _anything._

But in the end he was only a hospital clown and Law a child who needed his family.

Roci held back his own tears and decided that he would do whatever it took to take Law into his care.

He was one of the few people Law trusted, after all.

* * *

It had been like a long, bloody fight.

Papers after papers had been signed. Interviews after interviews had been held. Check-ups after check-ups had been done.

" _What are your plans for your future?"_

" _You're only 19, are you actually ready to adopt a child?"_

" _Do you really believe your financial situation will be suitable for a child?"_

" _Is your apartment actually safe enough for children?"_

" _Do you have a stable job?"_

" _Why do you want to adopt Law?"_

The questions never ended. They had tried their best to not let Roci adopt Law because of his age. He knew he was young, unprepared and probably had no clue of what he was doing. He didn't know how to cook, how to properly do laundry or how to fix broken things. He barely had money for himself, hadn't even decided what he wanted to study yet and his job contract with the hospital was going to end during the Christmas holiday.

But.

But he knew how to talk to children, how to act around them and how to make them trust you. He knew how to make them feel comfortable, how to support them and how to help them. He knew how to listen to them and how to comfort them. He knew how to make Law smile.

He was completely aware of the fact that his apartment was in a huge mess. He knew that he would need to learn to cook and that it would be tough to study, work and take care of a child. He knew he would have to take extra well care of the apartment, buy Law clothes and make sure that Law got to school in time. He knew it wouldn't be easy.

But.

But he wanted to make sure that Law got taken care of someone who genuinely cared for him. He wanted Law to be able to live with a person he already was comfortable with. He wanted to make sure that Law would be able to adapt to the new environment as easily as possible, while still being able to remember his dead family. And he knew he could make all of these things possible.

So when the social workers _finally_ agreed after months of buts and ifs, Roci literally screamed of happiness and thanked them over and over again.

Roci wasn't the only one who was happy. Law was happy too, even if he thought it was weird that he would be living with the strange hospital clown Mr. Cora. But he was happy that he didn't have to stay at the hospital. He was happy that he got to live with Mr. Cora, who knew him better than anyone else did.

And even if every day hurt for Law, even if every step hurt like one thousand needles piercing through him and even if every breath reminded him of his family, he still walked out of the hospital holding Mr. Cora's hand, while snow fluttered down from the sky and he remembered how he had built snowmen with Lami.

And he shed a tear.

* * *

The scenery outside was now completely white. Snow had mercilessly fluttered down from the sky, covering streets, roofs and street lamps. Everything was covered in a layer of white coldness, making it looked as if the whole city was magical. Nature was truly a blessing.

Even if the outside air was bitingly cold and the wind bitter and gusty, Roci had been sweating the whole day. He had moved around furniture of different kinds. The small extra room he had used as a study had now become a room for Law. The dirty, white curtains had been replaced with white and blue striped ones and the ugly, green rug had been replaced with a nice, round blue one. The desk had been sold and replaced with a bed. He had placed some dressers in the room and a big box for toys. Roci hated to admit it, but his older brother had bought a lot of the stuff. So far, Roci had refused to let Doffy meet Law.

Admittedly, Roci wasn't quite sure of what Law thought about the situation. The kid was quiet as usually, and the whole thing probably reminded him even more of how his parents and sister were dead. He probably thought of how he would have wanted to return home to his loving family. To an environment he was familiar with. To people he had spent several years with. To people whose scents meant the world to him. To people whose voices comforted him in his sleep. And the worst part was that Law soon would forget those scents and voices. And soon, he would forget their faces.

After a long day of furnishing, Roci slumped down on the sofa where Law awkwardly had sat the whole time. It had been three weeks since Law's last chemotherapy and his hair was slowly growing back. Law preferred to wear a scarf though. He thought he looked weird with almost no hair. It was sad to see how so young children already were affected by the beauty standards of the modern society.

Roci let out a sigh and looked at Law who stared at the floor. He seemed a bit uncomfortable, which was understandable. He had moved in two days ago and was completely new to the place. It was a huge step for Law to move in with a new person, a person he did know from the hospital, but a person he didn't know very well yet.

Roci was glad that Law didn't associate him with his sickness. He had been afraid that Law would start to hate him in the same way he hated doctors. Law had grown to hate doctors after all the countless of treatments that had left him in unbearable sickness and pain. The child was terrified of hospitals and said he never wanted to go back again.

"Are you hungry Law?" Roci asked after a while of silence. He knew he still had to give Law some space and wait for Law to make the first moves. He knew that Law still was deciding on whether he truly trusted Roci or not. And therefore, Roci thought it was immensely important that he showed Law that he was completely trustworthy.

"Yea, a bit", Law agreed. He was holding his dear Bepo in his lap. He had grown to love the toy. Roci sometimes heard how Law talked to it; _"Please let me see mom and dad. And Lami too. Let me go see them. Let me spend Christmas with them, please."_ He had heard Law wish for that a few days before they had left the hospital. His face had been buried in the fur of Bepo while he had hugged the toy as tightly as possible. Roci had cried at home.

"Do you want some pizza?"

"Huh? When did you buy pizza?" Law asked, completely skeptical about the whole thing.

"I haven't yet. I'll order it", Roci replied, confused of Law's inquiries. Didn't the kid know about take-out?

"Y…You can order pizza?" Law was confused.

"Yea", Roci smiled. "I'll just call the right number, tell them what I want and they'll come with pizza. I'll pay them at the door of course."

Law blinked in awe. He had never heard about that before. Back at home, mom and dad usually cooked everything. They had barely eaten at restaurants too. So take-out was completely new for him.

"I've never done that before", Law admitted, growing a bit excited on the inside. "But, I don't want to eat the pizza edges…" Roci immediately understood why. They were almost like bread.

"It's okay Law. I can eat them for you", standing up from the rather comfortable fitment, Roci reached for his phone. "What do you want on your pizza?"

Law furrowed his non-existent eyebrows in thought. Once again, Roci held himself from squealing. Law always looked ridiculously adorable when he concentrated. After a few minutes of silent pondering, Law finally settled for something.

"A lot of cheese and tuna", the reply came calmly and seriously. Roci almost chuckled at the calm, mature way of speaking. Law was always comically correct when talking and rarely stumbled on words. Sometimes he would use words that one wouldn't expect a six-year-old to know, which would make the whole serious and mature way of talking even more entertaining.

"Then I'll order that", Roci said and was just about to dial the number when he felt how Law pulled on the hem of his shirt. He looked down to see how the boy frowned up at him with an adorably serious expression on his face. "Huh? What's wrong?"

"I want to order it myself", Law demanded.

How could Roci possibly say no to that?

"Sure", he smiled and gave the phone to Law.

In the end, Law loved the pizza with a lot of cheese and tuna.

* * *

~Thanks for Reading~


	2. Chapter 2

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* * *

It was Law's first Christmas without his family and so Roci tried his very best to instead of dwell in the past create new traditions.

Of course, he had still gotten them a Christmas tree and they had decorated it together, even if it was small and pitiful. He had let Law choose decorations in the store and the boy had become teary when he had seen all the Christmas stuff. Roci had tried his best to make Law see new things instead – to make Law forget about his loss for a few minutes. But it was too soon for that and Law still needed time to recover. Therefore, Roci was going to give Law all the time he needed.

For dinner Roci had thought they would eat something else besides the traditional ham. Over their few weeks together, Law had grown to love fish of different kinds, mostly because Roci was pretty much incapable of cooking anything else without ruining it. Law preferred the fish raw and liked fat fish overall, so Roci had bought them that and seasoned it carefully. He had also cooked some prawns and potatoes. Of course, they had had casseroles of different kinds as well.

After the dinner, they watched some movies, played some Trouble and ate loads of candy, chips and popcorn. Law's little, scrawny belly became completely bloated and Roci hoped that the skinny child soon would regain the weight he had lost. It was sometimes disgusting to see how Law's ribs stuck out of his chest when he changed clothes. Or how bony his elbows were.

Law was determined to stay awake until midnight to see Santa, but became sleepy around half past ten. He refused to go to bed until Roci said that he was feeling sleepy himself. So then the two of them – after a few more games of Trouble – went to the bathroom and brushed their faces and teeth diligently.

Roci read Law a bedtime story, even if Law always insisted that he'd read it himself. This night Roci insisted to read instead and halfway through Law sobbed and turned around in his bed, not daring to look at Roci. Despite this, Roci continued to read and by the end of the story the sobs died out and Law fell asleep.

He still missed his family so much it was unbearable.

The next morning the Christmas presents were opened. Roci hadn't afforded very many presents, but Doffy would drop by later that day and bring some more gifts. Roci had told Doffy not to buy something too expensive, since it'd make Law wonder why Roci couldn't buy as fancy stuff and maybe be mad at Roci because of that. Doffy had said not to worry, but soon after their phone call Roci had begun to wonder if Doffy even knew what not-expensive was.

Law was still overjoyed over his gifts. He had gotten more stuffed animals, since he had a weak spot for those soft things and also more books to read. Law loved reading and read as much as he could – he could read the same book over and over again. Roci had also gotten Law one of those small, peeping pets – a Tamagotchi. Law had seen it on TV as well and had been determined to get one. He named his pet Bepo and hoped it'd turn into something that would resemble a polar bear. Roci kind of regretted that he had bought that gift whenever he heard it peep and Law asked him to take care of it.

"I can't now! I'm reading! You have to feed it!" he'd say, and Roci would just grudgingly take care of the virtual pet.

Even if Roci hadn't asked for gifts, Law had still somehow managed to make him something. It wasn't much, but it made his heart melt. Law had built a small Lego spaceship of the few Legos he had. He had carefully wrapped it in some drawing paper he had drawn small Christmas trees on and written _Mr. Cora_ on it. Roci hoped that Law soon would grow out of the need to constantly call him mister and instead just call him Cora or Roci or even dad.

Roci thanked Law for the Lego spaceship and put it on his bedside table next to his alarm clock.

Law looked anxious when he saw where Roci had placed it. "Those pieces are the rarest I have", he said, trying to subtly hint Roci not to place it somewhere where it easily could break. This only made Roci pat his head – that now had gotten a small beginning of dark hair, only one millimeter of hair, though – and then put the spaceship in a bookshelf instead.

"Is it okay there?" Roci asked and put some stuff aside to make room for it. It was only some stupid knick-knack so he didn't mind that they got hidden behind the spaceship.

Law nodded and looked up at it. "It's very good", once again using a serious tone, Law furrowed his eyebrows that also were making a slow comeback. He always made such serious and grumpy faces, as if he was a CEO making important decisions for some huge company.

"Good", Roci smiled and patted Law's head again. The two of them were still wearing their pajamas, even if Doffy would come over in about one hour. The three of them would eat lunch together. Or four, if Doffy brought his weird friend Vergo along like he sometimes did without warning anyone. It was an annoying habit he had, to just randomly bring completely peculiar people along. "My big bro is coming over soon, so you should get dressed. He has some more gifts for you."

"Yea, I know", Law said. They had spoken about this a few days ago. Roci had asked if Law was okay with meeting Doffy and Law had said that it was okay – it only meant more presents for him anyway. "Doflamingo, right?"

"Yea, Doflamingo", Roci replied. "He prefers to be called Doffy by family, though."

"But I'm not family", Law remarked and it made Roci remember the cold truth. Law didn't consider himself their family. He was just a random kid living with a hospital clown. Roci wondered if Law thought of this as a temporary way to live.

"Doflamingo will consider you his family, just like I do", he smiled down at the boy.

Law didn't reply and instead pitter-pattered to his room to get dressed. Roci couldn't help but to feel a sensation of worry expand inside of him and wondered if he should talk with Law about it. Law refused to talk about his dead family more than necessary and could even get angry if Roci tried to bring the topic up. He most likely wanted to forget about it all and thought that Roci only was rubbing their deaths in his face.

Now, however, was not a very good time to be dwelling in the past and Roci decided to let it be. He wouldn't force Law to accept him as his new family. He wouldn't force Law to do anything, in fact. He was just overjoyed that he even was able to stay by the boy's side and watch the golden eyes glisten with the glitter of one thousand stars.

Roci heard how Law was completely silent in his room and when he wasn't able to hear any sobs, he took a deep breath and went to the bathroom. There he undressed himself, walked into the shower stall and let warm water fall down on him.

Their past weeks together had been quite ok, better than Roci had anticipated in fact. Law was still a bit timid and shy, but had grown to be much more open in a way shorter time than Roci had imagined. Law could even demand things, which he never had been comfortable doing at the hospital. Back at the hospital, he had somehow been scared of asking for things, while now he quietly could express his distress when his favorite cereal ran out. It wasn't a huge development, but it was a development nevertheless.

Law had still not gone to school, and his first day would be after the Christmas holiday. Even if he had tried to study at the hospital he had been too tired and weak to learn fast enough. Therefore, he had spent many of his days studying to catch up. The problem had been Roci's work, but they had solved it by Roci quitting his job and instead loaning money from Doffy – or in fact receiving money from Doffy. Roci knew his older brother never asked family to pay back. That annoying bastard had more than enough money anyway and could easily share a couple of thousands here and there without it affecting him the slightest. Doffy could probably donate a million or two to Roci and it wouldn't affect his daily life at all. But Roci wouldn't ask for that much and would still pay back the sums he had loaned.

Law hadn't minded studying at all and Roci also found it easy to teach Law, even if Law was very independent and didn't like to be tutored. But it had been a very smooth way for them to communicate. It was probably these endless hours of studying that had made Law way more comfortable. Roci was sure that Law otherwise would have grown bored without anything fun to do and would only have been reminded of his dead family all the time. Instead, he had been occupied with learning, which had emptied his head of sad thoughts.

When Roci was done showering, he quickly dried himself. It was first the hair, then the thighs, then the torso and then the hair again. He always dried himself in that manner, and would afterwards wrap the towel around his hips. Then he'd comb his hair and let it dry on its own, making it look natural yet tidy. The long bangs would cover most of his forehead but he didn't mind. Just like Doffy, he didn't have a very charming forehead at all. Roci's most charming feature was his eyes.

After a few minutes of struggling and tripping over, Roci was done dressing himself. He didn't bother to dress very formally and decided that jeans and a light blue shirt would be good enough for his big brother. It wasn't like they were having some kind of fancy dinner – au contraire; it was more like a sloppy lunch than anything else.

Roci glanced into Law's room and saw how the boy sat on the floor and played with the small Tamagotchi. The device was making small, irritating noises but he couldn't be mad at it because it was making Law happy.

"Is your Tamagotchi happy and full now?" Roci asked Law.

Law nodded. "It likes bread, unlike me."

"Maybe it needs to rest a bit now?" Roci took a step closer and entered Law's room carefully. "You have been playing with it for quite a while. It's still only a child right?"

"Yea", Law agreed. "It will get tired." He put it away and looked at how the small virtual pet danced around on the screen. It was so pixelated yet so cute.

"Do you wanna make lunch with me while it rests?" smiling gently, he leaned against door frame of Law's room.

Law blinked at the inquiry but then stood up. He was wearing black jeans and a knitted sweater. And on his head was a red scarf, hiding his nearly bald head. Even if there now was that thin layer of hair, he felt embarrassed and wanted to hide it.

"Okay", Law said and followed Roci to the kitchen. He stood by the counters that reached his shoulders. "What are we going to make?"

"I'm not quite sure yet…" Roci mumbled and opened the fridge. "Is there something you want?"

"I think that maybe pasta would be ok", Law said, once again being unable to voice his real wish. It was almost as if Law saw himself as selfish for wanting things. He always tried to make it sound as if he didn't mind or didn't care but it was always obvious what he wanted. Sometimes, however, he still voiced his wishes, like with the Christmas presents. During those times, Roci was happy that Law felt comfortable with sharing his wishes and thoughts with him.

"That's not a bad idea at all", grabbing the ingredients he needed, Roci put them all on the counter. The kitchen was quite small, but Law was small too and didn't take a lot of space, so Roci didn't mind that they were two in the tiny kitchen.

"What can I do?" Law asked when Roci started chopping garlic.

"I'd be really happy if you could search for a nice big pot to cook the pasta in", Roci said, hoping that Law would be strong enough to carry it. If not, he could always help him.

Law nodded seriously and started to look for the biggest pot in the kitchen. He managed to zigzag between Roci's legs or walk around Roci without disturbing him at all. Roci just continued to chop garlic and mushrooms while Law busied himself.

"Is this good?" by now, Law had found a big one and was carrying it towards Roci. It didn't look very heavy but it was quite big for little Law to carry.

"Yes, perfect", Roci bent down to receive it, filled it with water, poured a little salt in the water and put it on the stove. "Thanks."

Law flashed a shy smile, obviously happy that he had been able to help Roci. "No problem", he mumbled shyly and curiously looked at how Roci was chopping other vegetables. "Is there anything else I can do?"

"Well, I'll soon fry these veggies and I already have what I need for that but I won't have time to choose good napkins", Roci replied and put a frying pan on the stove. He poured a little olive oil in the frying pan and let it heat up. By now the pasta water had started boiling and the pasta had started to soften in the hot water. "You could choose some nice ones from the box."

Once again, Law nodded and sped off to the box where Roci kept napkins and other kinds of decorations. The key was to keep Law busy with things that were meaningful for making the lunch work but that wouldn't hurt him. He couldn't ask for too much from a six-year-old after all. If he'd ask for too little, however, Law would notice it and feel underestimated.

This went on for the entire time Roci was cooking food. He'd busy Law with something and Law would concentrate hard on finding whatever Roci had asked him to find. He asked Law to choose which ice cream they would use for dessert and which sprinkles they would combine the ice cream with. He'd set the table together with Law while the pasta was boiling and he was done with frying the veggies and making an easy salad. They'd both think of seating arrangements and ponder on what kinds of glasses to use.

After a while, the doorbell rang. Admittedly, Roci was a bit nervous of how Law was going to react. Doffy was a very eccentric man with very eccentric habits. In worst case scenario it could scare Law. In best case scenario Law wouldn't mind him very much. When Roci looked down at the tanned child, he noticed how Law also seemed quite nervous. Of course he was; he was always utterly timid when it came to new people. But it was good for him to get used to meeting new people. He would meet a lot of new people at once when starting school.

"Merry Christmas!" Doffy chuckled and gave Roci a happy hug. Roci was not able to spot any weird Vergo over Doffy's shoulder when they hugged each other and he was quite happy about that. Vergo was quite intimidating – especially for children.

"Merry Christmas", Roci replied and patted his older brother's shoulder lazily. They hadn't gotten along very well ever since Doffy had started bullying Roci in school. Or Doffy thought they got along, but Roci didn't. The bullying had really torn him apart as a person after all. And Doffy had never even apologized for it.

Law blinked up at Doffy and took a careful step backwards.

"This is Law", Roci said as soon as their awkward hug ended. He patted Law's head again. It had become a habit of theirs – a way to show affection.

"Hello", Law said awkwardly and gave Doffy a timid, shy glance.

"Hi", chuckling in his characteristic way, Doffy kneeled down by Law. "I'm uncle Doffy. Roci has told me a lot about you."

"Roci?" Law asked, utterly confused. Roci nearly started laughing when he realized that he never had told Law his real name. He had been completely happy with being called Mr. Cora, even if it was a bit formal.

"Don't tell me that this kid doesn't even know your name", Doffy chuckled again, his chuckle as dark and enigmatic as ever. He patted Law's head as well. His pat was just a bit rougher and more distant than Roci's. A little less affectionate. "His real name is Rocinante, not Corazon."

Law blinked at Roci and then at Doffy and then back at Roci again. "I think Mr. Cora suits him more", Law replied, not even upset over the fact that Roci's real name wasn't Corazon. This relieved Roci quite a lot, to be completely honest. He was glad that Law didn't show any sign of sensation of betrayal. He had kind of feared that Law would feel as if he had been lied to.

Doflamingo burst out in laughter and stood up again. "I like this brat!"

To this, Law expressed a certain amount of displeasure. He furrowed his pale eyebrows deeply and pouted. "I'm not a brat", he said with a hard voice.

Unlike Doffy who only chuckled again, Roci mentally squealed at the serious expression. But Roci also knew that Law hated to be called cute or funny whenever he was angry – calling him cute or funny would underestimate his emotions and make him feel as if they only were ridiculous. And that would be a cruel thing to do and would probably provoke him even more. It would confuse him and make him feel as if his emotions weren't valid.

"Sorry", Doffy said before Roci had to chip in and tell Doffy to stop teasing little Law. "You're not a brat."

"No he isn't", saying it with a defensive tone, Roci gave his older brother a quick, cold glare. It was obvious that Doffy had no idea of how to treat children. But then again, Law didn't seem very scared of Doffy. Mostly he seemed confused over the way Doffy acted.

At the same time, Law's Tamagotchi peeped and he sped off to see how the virtual pet was doing. Roci only smiled after Law and then helped Doffy with his coat. It was a big, expensive coat and looked misplaced next to the scraggy and dirty coat Roci himself used. This made him remember how amazingly big the gap between them was. Doffy was 21 and already a millionaire. He had merely done it with investing his money correctly. After gaining enough money by investing, he had started companies while he still was studying economy. He was a genius when it came to business, even if Roci thought of him as a quite unpleasant person.

"You have a cozy place", Doffy commented when he had taken off his wet and snowy shoes. Roci knew that Doffy was confused over how Roci still hadn't decided what to do with his life. Doffy thought that Roci only was slacking around. But he at least had the decency not to say it out loud, especially not on Christmas day. "And the boy seems nice. Law was it? I like him. He has a good, peppery attitude."

"Yea", Roci smiled at this comment and walked to the kitchen. It was good that Law was becoming more crackling and peppery; it meant that he was comfortable. To be completely honest, Law was his pride. Law was what he had been fighting for. And Law was something Doffy never could get. Law was unique. "He's a fighter."

"Yea, so I heard. But he's healthy now right?"

"Yup. Will start school after the holidays."

"That's good. He's probably excited."

"He is."

X

In the end, Doffy had still gotten Law quite fancy presents. He had bought him a Nintendo along with the newest games. When Roci had asked about it later, Doffy had replied that he had thought he had been modest with the gifts, since it only had been _one_ expensive gift.

Well, in the end Law had only been happy about his Nintendo and hadn't asked about why Roci hadn't bought him a Nintendo as well. In fact, Law was spending equally much time playing Super Mario Bros as he was taking care of his little Tamagotchi. He also arranged his new stuffed animals and named them all. He liked to sleep with all of them surrounding him and would hug the big Bepo bear if he felt lonely.

When Roci had asked about Law's opinion on Doffy, Law had only replied that he was okay but weird. The reply had been quite expected, especially since Doffy had spent a lot of the lunch talking about women and night clubs he wanted to bring Roci to. And then he'd stop for a moment, think of his words and say that he'd bring Law along when he was a little older. But then he had gotten the brilliant idea to bring Law along anyway, because single fathers apparently attracted women. Law hadn't quite understood the whole conversation while Roci had kicked Doffy underneath the table.

It was quite delightful that Law hadn't become all too upset over meeting Doffy. Even if the two of them hadn't talked very much and Doffy's attempts to talk had all been a bit clumsy, they hadn't seemed annoyed at each other, the only exception being the moment Doffy had called Law a brat.

The rest of the Christmas holiday had been spent by lot of activities, one of them being to beat Super Mario Bros and another to make the Tamagotchi grow big and strong. But they had also spent a lot of time studying and Law had almost caught up in school. He still had a little left. The main point was that he'd understand the material he was learning and it seemed like Law had no problem with understanding theoretical things. Whenever Law immediately hadn't been able to understand something, though, he had become very frustrated and refused to learn anything else until he understood that particular thing. He hadn't wanted Roci to explain it to him – he had wanted to understand it himself.

One day they had been outside riding sleighs down a hill. Roci was still careful not to let Law get too cold and could sometimes even be a bit overprotective over Law. He was just terrified that Law would get sick and be sent back to the hospital where he would suffer. The doctors had warned him after all; even the smallest of flus could be pernicious for little Law in his weak state.

Unfortunately, they had been forced to go to the hospital for a checkup once and Law had been shaking of fear. The poor thing was endlessly terrified of hospitals and whenever he saw a syringe he'd start crying. It was only natural. He most likely associated the syringe with the chemotherapy he had gotten. It had therefore been incredibly hard for the doctors to get any blood tests from Law. It had been completely impossible for them to even get close to Law unless Law had been sitting in Roci's lap. Even if it had felt quite selfish to feel like that, Roci still had felt enormously happy to see how much he meant to Law. Law had only felt safe in his lap.

After their rather depressing visit to the hospital, Roci had brought Law to a café and had bought him the biggest pastry with loads of whipped cream and strawberries. Law hadn't been able to finish it but had happily drunk the hot chocolate he had gotten. They had celebrated that there hadn't been anything wrong with Law. The next checkup would be in a few months and after that the checkups would be done yearly.

One day they had attempted to bake cookies together. Roci discovered that even if baking and cooking was immensely difficult for him, he still was able to make cookies if he bought one of those packages with powders you mixed together and put in the oven. They had formed them into polar bears and from that moment on they would be referred as Bepo cookies, even if they only had used a completely normal vanilla cookie mix from the store. One plate of the Bepo cookies had been burnt and they had put a lot of white frosting on them to cover the foul taste while the other plate had ended up quite well.

And before they knew it, the holidays were over and they were packing Law's school bag. They had picked out a cool outfit for Law's first day and Law had neatly arranged his pens into his pen case. The school bag had been packed and was waiting in the corner of Law's room while the clothes had been folded on his desk.

Currently, Law lay in his bed. He had just taken a shower and brushed his teeth. Roci smiled at the nervous expression and knew that no bedtime story would make Law fall asleep. The small boy was all too nervous for sleeping. So instead, they chatted about the big day.

"Are you nervous?" Roci asked while he arranged the stuffed animals around Law. Law liked it when he lay down in the bed and Roci put the animals around his head, as if they were watching over him.

"No", Law replied. "Only a little."

"It's normal. I was super scared when I would start school", flashing a gentle smile, Roci remembered how nervous he had been. "I wasn't as tough as you and was sure that the teachers would be mean and that I'd be completely lonely without any friends."

Law reacted by blinking in a confused manner. He had most likely never imagined that Roci also could feel nervous. "Were the teachers mean then? Did you end up completely lonely?" somewhere in that voice, fear was hidden. The fear of being left alone.

"No", Roci chuckled and stroked Law's head. The short, short hair felt soft and fuzzy. Law still preferred to wear his scarf and would wear it for school until his hair had grown a bit longer. "I was completely wrong. The teachers were all very nice. We had one teacher, who was especially very kind. I bet you'll also have a teacher like that."

"And you got friends right?" Law asked. He was most likely more nervous about getting friends. He hadn't been very social at the hospital and probably thought he looked weird in his super short hair and his scarf.

"Of course I did", Roci smiled. He left out the part with Doffy and the other kids bullying him. There was no point in bringing it up, since he'd make sure that anyone who'd bully his little Law would regret it deeply. "And I also got crushes."

"Crushes… You mean you loved someone?" Law asked.

"Yes. She was a very tough girl and most boys liked her. School is loads of fun, trust me", Roci said. "I bet you'll love it."

"Why aren't you together with her if you love her?" Law asked again. Roci let out a gentle chuckle at this inquiry.

"I used to love her a lot, but I haven't seen her in a long while", giving her a thought, Roci's eyes glistened in a distant way. He had always liked her. Law probably had a point. He should call her at least, and ask her how she was doing. They had gone to the same high school and all after all.

"You should go see her", Law said probably not realizing how deep his remark sounded. "If you love her you should go see her."

"Maybe I will", Roci replied. He hadn't even thought about. When they had graduated, she had still had a thing going on with someone else and he had been smart enough not to ask her out. He regretted that he never had asked her out earlier. He had kind of hoped that she would have done that. She was the tougher one, the braver one.

"Good", Law said.

They stayed up and chatted a while longer until Law became too sleepy to keep the conversation going. So then Roci quietly left the room, silently closed the door and sat down by the kitchen table and wrote yet another job application. While his fingers tapped over the keyboard of his laptop, Law sleepily wondered if one could have crushes on boys too.

X

It was utterly snowy and painfully cold outside. Most people would have frozen their noses by spending more than fifteen minutes outside in that bitingly cold weather. Not only was the air dry and cold, but there was also a mercilessly whippy wind dancing around and catching bits of snow with it.

It was due to the horribly cold weather that the teachers had decided that it'd be unfair to force the children outside during their breaks. Instead, they could spent their breaks inside and do whatever they did for those minutes. Some drew, some played pirates, some exchanged stickers and some played with their Tamagotchi.

So far, the day had been quite okay for Law. He had introduced himself in the beginning of the first lesson and the teacher had explained for the other children that he had been sick and therefore hadn't been able to come to school earlier. Law had been seated next to a girl whose name he couldn't remember, and she had been friendly and nice to him

The first lesson had been math, which was the only subject Law wasn't behind in. He hadn't minded it at all, and had in fact liked the way the teacher taught them. He liked her overall. She was very nice, just like Mr. Cora had promised him. He wondered if there would be even nicer teachers.

Now it was the first break of the day and Law was horribly lost with what to do. All the other children knew each other. The girls were too shy to talk to him while the boys were completely occupied with some kind of game they had come up with. No one even noticed how Law sat there alone, looking around himself anxiously and adjusting the red scarf on his head. He was way too shy to just walk over to the other kids and join them, so he just sat there and poked on his pen case.

Just when he was about to give up and continue counting in the math book to entertain himself, a boy walked up to him;

"We're playing pirates", he said bluntly. "You can join us. You look like a cool pirate with that scarf and all."

Law looked at the boy and put his pen case aside. "Okay but I don't know how to play pirates."

"No worries, I'll show you", the boy replied just as bluntly as he had before. Law nodded and followed the boy that randomly had appeared in front of him. Mr. Cora had been completely right – the teachers were nice and you got nice friends. School wasn't very bad at all.

In the end, he played pirates with them every break of that day. And when Roci came to pick him up and the boys said bye to him, Law's eyes glistened as powerfully as ever, with one thousand stars shining through the golden color.

X

It was approximately one week later, when Roci finally had gathered enough courage to call her.

Before the call, he had given the whole thing a lot of thought. The two of them had been very close in high school – some people had even mistaken them for lovers. They had gone to prom together, insisting that they only were friends while they still had shared an endlessly nervous kiss afterwards. She had spent most of her afternoons on the couch at Roci's place where they had played video games hours on end.

They had been best friends, to put it simply. Best friends in love maybe, even if Roci never was one-hundred percent sure that she had liked him back. He had never been one-hundred percent sure, even if she once had mumbled that to him in the dark, when no one was supposed to see or hear them, when it was just the two of them. And he had never dared to say it back. He had never dared to destroy that moment of magic.

But things had changed when she had met someone new. They had quickly found each other and noticed how well they had fit together. Roci had always been too shy and cowardly for her pranks. Therefore, the new guy with his fun and colorful personality fit her way better. The two of them would take her father's car in the middle of the night and drive through the city and paint on the ugliest buildings they could find. They would sit on the rooftops and watch the world sleep and rise while they never even felt a need to blink. They merged to one and became eternal.

Roci had been left behind and soon all of her afternoons had been spent with him. Of course, he had grown jealous and said some things he deeply regretted. Now, he was unable to comprehend why he had been such an asshole and why he just hadn't told her the truth. Why had he never been able to tell her? Not even when they had danced, his hand on her back and her hands around his neck? Not even when she had leaned against his chest and mumbled it to him?

He could still remember the hurt look in her eyes when he had said nothing.

One night, he had gotten enough of the feeling of being replaced. He had told her things he had never wanted to be said. He had accused her for things she never had done. And even if he had apologized and even if she had said that it was okay, it wasn't okay.

And so they had parted ways, with unsaid words floating in the air between them, even if they were miles and miles away from each other. They hadn't been rude to each other ever since that one night. They had only grown terribly distant. He had apologized to her again. But things hadn't returned to normal. She had still been hurt and he had still felt replaced.

In the end, he had never grown to be as brave as he had wished. He had never been brave enough to upright tell her that he loved her. He had loved her for so many years too, even if he had had other crushes in between. And the first years he had loved her, she had barely known about his existence. He had only been the boy with the long blond bangs and the cool big brother. And the last years he had loved her, he had been her everything but had said nothing, fearing that he would ruin their eternity. He had still managed to ruin it, by saying nothing at all.

So when he nervously dialed her number and waited for her to pick up, he counted to ten and wondered if it would be too late to create an eternity with her.

Instead of an answer, he reached the answering machine. The voice on the other line said;

"Hiya! You've reached Bell-mère! I'm unfortunately on my honeymoon right now and will be back by the 14th. Call me later or send me an e-mail if you are a friend. Thanks!"

Some eternities were just not meant to be.

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~Thanks for Reading~


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